The great debate: Are Assassin's Creed Odyssey XP boosts ethical?

Assassin's Creed: Odyssey is garnering positive reviews across the board and Ubisoft even poked fun at EA for controversial microtransactions. Are Ubisoft blameless in the whole story though, as they have MTX in a singleplayer game?

[Lighter9]

They are optional.

[ziggurcat]

True, but you shouldn't have to pay extra money to be able to progress in the game at the correct rate.

[MeteorPanda]

correct rate according to whom? some people don't have the time to grind and are willing - others are not. pick which one you are. it's not pay to win if it's single player and the objective can be reached.

if someone who has the time to play, pays for the xp boost to the point they're a boosted animal 1 shotting everything...but they have fun...then whats the harm?

[obidanshinobi]

@ MeteorPanda

Watch SkillUp's review, it took him 7 hours of side quest grinding to get to the level to play the next story mission.

[StormSnooper]

If you pay for a full game you shouldn’t have to pay more in game hidden fees to play the game in the best way possible.

[Lord_Sloth]

I seem to be progressing just fine without it. I'm level 15.

[ziggurcat]

@meteor:

Seeing as how there’s a $10 thing you can buy that increases your money/XP acquisition by 50%, it would be fair to say that they nerfed the progress by that much in order to sell those packs.

I have the time to grind, but that doesn’t justify the devs nerfing the regular rate of progress to make that grind more tedious.

[-Foxtrot]

"They are optional"

Really tired of that same old excuse

Not the point...

[roadkillers]

It is like purchasing a pool to swim for fun. Instead of practicing to swim and get better you pay someone to have you automatically make you better at swimming. That's not possible. I see why people do it, but honestly there is nothing better you guys could spend your money on?

From my perspective, that is like playing a game on super easy mode. I can see both sides of the customer. When it comes down to it, this stuffs not for me. Give me a great game and cut out all of the bs. I'm enjoying God Of War, but if the game mentioned any of this, it would be devalued in my mind.

[Rachel_Alucard]

The justifications I see for MTX revolve around the phrases, "They are optional" and "It's my money." Remember when the same lines were used for paid dlc, season passes, online passes, and subscription based services like EA access? Only one of those things died off and the rest flourished and morphed into MTX because of people continuing to buy them. Any one here can ignore them, but when you don't say anything it's the same as saying yes to these practices. Besides, there's tons of things people should not be buying and this is one of them.

[Purrfection]

Ask yourself, are we overreacting just for the sake of overreacting? I've been playing games for a long long time and I remember playing tons of RPG's that are a total grind. It's very easy to conclude now that money is involved that's it is no longer ethical but some of you are unwilling to accept gamer's habits have changed. We've also had cheat codes years ago, so it's not like this is a new concept of fast tracking a game.

[zahdab]

the reason they put these boosts is they know what they built .. they know many people will get bored of the grind and buy the boosts otherwise they wouldn't have tried to sell them. the game is too grindy to the point that optional quests as boring as they are .. .are not really optional you need to do them because most of the game is locked behind numbers. a chicken can literally kill you if it has a higher level than you.

[PixelOmen]

If it reaches the point where you get bored of it or it is unbalanced, it's just a bad game. The boosts are irrelevant. You can argue that the boosts are predatory, but the real issue is that it's simply poorly designed.

[StormSnooper]

Yeah but the “poor design”, it’s well... by design. They made a game, then added the poor design so you would have to pay more to actually enjoy the game.

[zahdab]

it's pretty much built like mobile games where they let you level up and get into the game and then start making it harder and harder to progress and level up. yes you can get to the end game without paying a dime and yes you're not competing against other players who payed to level up. but you will be doing the same quest over and over again.

[Segata]

And without them, the game feels like grinding in a free to play mobile game.

[jjb1981]

@meteorpanda, yes they are optional but it damages the trust players have with developers. This can become an issue where developers will intentionally make leveling up take a lot longer than normal just to entice players to pay for an XP boost for a full-priced $60 game. It's like when stores double the price of items one day and then the very next day they have a 50% off sale.

[Artemidorus]

For a fee which didn't happen in the past.

[notachance]

for me it's not whether it's optional or not. I see it as the way these devs build gamer's tolerance to SP Mts, just like how it was at the beginning with those 'cosmetics' MTs

sure, now they are "optional". But the way it was in the past, if you do all side activities your character is usually overleveled by the time they did the main quest, you can still see this in The Witcher 3 for example.

now the narrative suddenly shifts to "same level as enemies when you did the side activities"

watch as few years down the line, when you have build tolerance to this kind of practice it's suddenly not enough anymore to just "do all the side activities", the narrative will shift yet again to "you need to grind a little bit". Until it's too late and suddenly you realize they practically made it mandatory to buy MTs in single player.

and NO, the money you spend on MTs most likely doesn't go to "poor devs just trying to feed their families". Most of them have fixed salaries that doesn't get affected by how much you spend. Most of those MTs went to the company, which in turn goes to stakeholder's wallet.

If you think big revenues from MTs meant they gonna do better next time, you're wrong. To the companies it means only one thing: shift all focus to MTs.

[DerekTweed]

I'm 30 hours in and I am over leveled my 5 levels from the main quest. I didn't pay for the boost.

Enemies level up with you to a certain point, depending on the region, each region will have a cap.

Perhaps there will be a point in the next hours were I need to grind but I have a lot of side quests still to do.

Quite early in, the game throws a bunch of quests at you that are way above your level, when you're level 20ish, you will have quests at level 30, 35, 40 and even 50 in your quest log.

So far I'm enjoying it.

[Realms]

An option that does not need to be there unless greedy publishers want to see how far they can push the line without gamers pushing back. I don't like this because some people will justify it by saying well it doesn't affect me or the game but it does because inevitably some publishers will see this and say we can do this too. Next thing you know all games are being designed with this in mind instead of being creative and delivering fun new games and experiences.

[zahdab]

Well i found the first few hours enjoyable as well, it's still enjoying to an extent but i dont have the same motivation to do every single quest i come through anymore i am also did level up my character about 5 levels beyond the current region i am at ....
though at a certain point you realize how monotone the game is ... same quests over and over again ... specially the ones you pick from the postings ... they are not even region specific they pic a random target and assign a random dialogue option from the quest giver ... go kill X because he did Y ...
Also assassinations don't mean shit anymore ... if a target is 2 levels about you ... a stealth kill is no more a kill it's a just a bit of damage and for me that's what assassin's creed has always been about.
the fact that all regions level up with you really means that your levels means nothing ... except gating your progress not visit regions before your level matches them. if you to level up to make a certain region easier it has an adverse effect coz you need to level up your gear to also match your level or ur weapons and armor aren't good enough.
speaking of leveling you ur gear it costs way too much to level up gear you like with you, you're basically being forced out of your gear or you have to cough up real world money or just grind for materials for leveling which isnt pracital as you need the same material for upgrading your ships.
game has an obvious money grabbing scheme.

[Dixiedevil]

The material packs are way worse than the xp boost.

[robtion]

It is all equally bad. The grind required to level up just to play the main storyline, the lack of money and materials to keep existing equipment at the same level you are at, it is clearly orchestrated to push microtransactions. Plus content locked behind a paywall (e.g. Pegusus, ship figure heads).

It's greed pure and simple and with many people accepting it and some even defending it, the problem will only get worse as these companies see how far they can push things.

[stupidusername]

The truly sad part is that people like us are rather powerless, except for a few circumstances. We (wnlightened gamers on gaming sites) are very few in comparison to the millions of people that buy games like AC, CoD, Star Wars Battlefront and so on. Those people don’t buy games as often as us and gladly pour money into MTs.
At least I’m happy that loot boxes are almost out of the picture in most games.

[DerekTweed]

For me there has been no grind to level up with the main story. In fact, I am 5 levels above it. I have thousands of pelts, metal and wood and hundreds of glass and gems and over 100,000 drachmae.

The other stuff, I will agree with, there is content that is locked behind a pay wall. But I won't let that ruin my enjoyment of playing the game.

One thing I think is a dirty tactic is giving you a small amount of helix credits that is just a little less than you need for a gold weapon or something you would want. That is trying to entice you into buying a little bit more to get the best content.

[LucasRuinedChildhood]

Nope.

[victorMaje]

I haven’t felt like I needed it yet, even if I did I’d never buy it, goes against evthg I believe in.

MTX has no place in SP games, especially if they affect gameplay.

“Player choice”? Let the 50% xp boost be enabled by default for easy difficulty, that’s player choice.
Need to make more money? Make a better game.
Get that shit out of here.

[Lynx0207]

Funny thing is that I didn't buy the xp boost and my level is 1-2 levels highier than recommended for main story missions almost all the time. And I've seen no grind, I was doing only quests that were interesting to me and in many cases I said NPC they should find somebody else if their quest didn't look right. I played 38 hours now. I don't understand people who buy games only to finish them as soon as possible.

[SubZtx]

I don't think it is an as soon as possible thing. I think it is a reasonable amount of time for a good story experience. I felt God of War was just about perfect 25ish hours and I did just about everything and had a hell of a time. When I hear 50 hours+ just for the story I feel like I should just play it about a rentals worth then watch the YouTube video because that sounds boring as hell. You may be different but that is just me.

[DerekTweed]

I'm 32 hours in and I'm 5 levels above the main story quest. I never refuse a quest and I pick up ones from the boards, I think I did one without even realising it and it gave me 24,000 XP. Some are things I would do anyway, like clear bandit camps, kill Spartans, etc. They give a good amount of XP.

[CrystalFantasy3]

What's next? Double xp weekend for single player games!

[Chocoburger]

Pretty sure Origins already did that. Also there are other games do that as well. I'm really starting to resent the game industry.

[CrystalFantasy3]

Eat my shorts scrub!

[ufo8mycat]

I have no problem with this as long as:

1) The gameplay is not built around or is degraded because of tactics like this.
2) That it is not REQUIRED to purchase a XP Boost, to progress naturally in the game, because the game was hindered purposely, so you have to purchased said boost, for it to become normal. If that makes sense.

I’m 30 hours into Assassins Creed Odyssey and I have had no problems whatsoever with how quickly you level within the game. I’m actually also playing on hard difficulty, so any “too low level” issues definitely wouldn’t exist on Normal difficulty.

The above 2 points have not happened or exist in this game, therefore I’m fine with this. I don’t know why you would want or need this XP Boost anyway, especially on Normal difficulty, as it’s been fine on Hard difficulty.

You can obviously steam roll through the game on Normal difficulty without any issues anyway , making the XP Boost completely pointless and don’t forget there is always Easy difficulty.

[Destiny1080]

pay an extra 5 bucks and get an extra 50% boost
pay an extra 10 bucks and get an extra 100% boost
pay an extra 15 bucks and get an extra 150% boost

pay us nothing and we will have you grinding for days

[CaptainFaisal]

Use a Trainer, or Cheat Engine ...

[InKnight7s]

What for console?

[CaptainFaisal]

PC obviously, console guys just have to grind

[xenz]

Only peasants uses that

[Mr_Commander]

xenz, yes, where is your sense of pride and accomplishment :D

[Artemidorus]

We gone from cheat codes to full blown payment.

Ubisoft are a disgrace.

[jznrpg]

No . No matter what SoldgamerX says they added some grind to encourage MT purchases. Maybe some people won’t feel it as much as others but I have a nice beachfront property to sell you in Detroit if you believe they are doing it for people who have less time. They could make the difficulty easier or some other way not involving money if that was the case.

[Thunder_G0d_Bane]

Glad I play on PC. I’ll be using a trainer to give me any additional levels I want. And ability points so I can play from start to finish with all the skills I want too.

[Psychotica]

Wow that's quite an accomplishment..lol. Why not get one that just takes you to the final scene so you don't have to play at all.

[Psychotica]

Is there a requirement to finish a game in 2 weeks? I agree this game seems a lot more grindy than Origins but I don't feel the need to rush to get it done. If it takes me 6 months to do it, so be it..

[DerekTweed]

Well with Red Dead Redemption 2 coming out in 2 weeks, some people may feel the need to finish before that.

I'm not sure what to do because I want to 100% Odyssey and I can't Imagine I can do that before RDR2 release.

[Psychotica]

I guess. I am looking forward to RDR2 as well but I am not rushing Odyssey. I will just go back and forth between the two.

[obidanshinobi]

Assassins Greed

[jinjojuice]

if you don't like or have the time to spend hours in an open world game then why the hell buy it in the first place.kids today impatient, intitled,spoilt,want everything now but don't want to work for it.

[Opinionatedlovesme]

While gays are being beheaded, farmers are being pushed out by big multinationals and kids are fighting in wars. I dont really think that an xp boost in a video game is really important enough to have an "ethical" debat about.lmao

[ninerguy1608]

Not really. But there are ones who will complain til the day they die.

[Chocoburger]

Good to see you on a VIDEO GAME WEBSITE complaining about REAL LIFE PROBLEMS not related to VIDEO GAMES.

If you care so much about people being beheaded, farmers being rushed around, and child soldiers, please go out into the REAL WORLD and do something about it. N4G.com is not the place to help people in the REAL WORLD.

[ninerguy1608]

I don’t have time to grind. But I enjoy the story. So guess what. I’ll pay for it if I decide to. It’s single player.so please. Come to my house and tell me how to spend my money. Downvotes don’t bother me. So send a 1000. I’ll live.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

It’s a single player game so who really cares if someone decides to boost xp? I remember this same crap being said about Origins yet I had NO problems gaining levels. I’m only concerned about MP games giving people advantages who pay for them. If someone wants to pay to level up faster then that’s their choice.

[hiawa23]

No one forces anyone to buy anything. I bought the boost as that is how I want to enjoy my game. You enjoy your game as you see fit.

[l-Mc-I]

Yes they’re ethical as a law student there’s no way I would be able to play this whole game without it it would just take too much of my time so I actually appreciate when devs do stuff like this.

[william_cade]

Is paying for a promotion ethical? Is making a game (now confirmed by multiple sources) super grindy so people will pay to skip it, ethical? Do we really even need to ask these questions?

"So far, the players and reviewers of Assassin's Creed: Odyssey don't seem to think these microtransactions are forced, as the game generously gives out experience, crafting materials and other loot."

Is it even ethical to write this in this way, when obviously there are gamers and reviewers that think otherwise? Of course there would have to be another side for a debate, yes?

what a fucking mess and I got super hyped about this one and now....

[mandingo]

Are you really asking if what Ubisoft does is eithical?

[xenz]

Dont see the problem. I feel the pace is good enough. Just dont buy it if you dont want it? You dont have to buy it. No one is holding you at gunpoint either.